Optical fiber sensors may be used to monitor many different parameters on structures or in selected environments. Examples of optical fiber sensors include Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors that may be utilized to detect strain in an optical fiber. Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) systems utilize fiber optic sensors to generate temperature information in downhole and other environments.
In order to ensure accurate temperature sensing downhole, DTS and other optical fiber sensors are generally calibrated prior to deployment. Such calibration is typically performed while the fiber sensors are at the surface and stored in coils. As fibers are deployed downhole, they are uncoiled and exposed to substantially different environmental conditions including high temperatures, high pressures and various chemical compositions. Deployment can alter the characteristics of the sensors and thus compromise the calibration performed at the surface. In addition, temperature gradients typically seen in fiber optic sensors deployed in downhole environments make the task of calibrating downhole sensors difficult.